Iowa injury woes pale when compared to Michigan

IOWA CITY - Three pivotal Iowa players battled through various pains to compete last Saturday against Wisconsin.

Forward Aaron White, center Gabe Olaseni and point guard Mike Gesell - all questionable - combined to score 35 points in a loss against the Badgers. Gesell (hyperextended right elbow) was the only player who was truly limited. White (neck stinger) and Olaseni (left ankle) competed as if they never were injured.

Michigan Coach John Beilein would love to be in Iowa's situation as the teams enter Thursday's game (6 p.m. ESPN) at the Crisler Center. Caris LeVert, a preseason all-Big Ten guard, is out for the season with a broken foot. He played in 18 games and led the Wolverines at 14.9 points a game. Guard Derrick Walton Jr., Michigan's third-leading scorer at 10.9 points per game, has missed the last three games and is out indefinitely with a foot injury.

Even without LeVert, the Wolverines (13-9, 6-4 Big Ten) have split their most recent four games. Both of their losses (Wisconsin and Michigan State) were in overtime. Considering three players from last year's Big Ten title team left Michigan for the NBA, Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery is impressed with Beilein's coaching performance.

'What they are doing is they are playing really hard on both ends,” McCaffery said. 'They are still executing John's offense and sharing the ball and some guys are stepping up into roles that other people had before. That has been impressive.”

Freshman guard Muhammed-Ali Abdur-Rahkman played sparingly until getting 15 minutes at Ohio State on Jan. 17. Of his last six games, Abdur-Rahkman has three starts and averaged 24.5 minutes. Only once in the previous 16 games did Abdur-Rahkman play more than six minutes. He's scored 52 of his 59 points this season over that six-game span.

Freshman combo guard Aubrey Dawkins also has stepped into a much larger role. He largely was a role player before LeVert's injury. In the last four games he's averaged 30.5 minutes and 8.5 points.

'When you look at Dawkins as a young player, he has been tremendous,” McCaffery said. 'Abdur-Rahkman, he has been unbelievable. They have been getting great play out of the center position. Regardless of which one of the three guys that they put out there, they have been solid at that position in rebounding and scoring. You are still getting the same kind of play that you always got. They don't make mistakes and they make shots. They also fight you on defense. Whenever you have that combination, it is going to be a hard team to beat.”

Beilein said this week he has 'no other choice” than to play his young guys after the injuries.

'I think we've got to trust that we have really good kids of high character they're all about the team,” Beilein said. 'As a result, they're in, they're gaining valuable experience, and they're getting better because they're getting actual playing time.”

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